


The Loch and Chains

by Bonfoi



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Community: lupin_snape, HP: EWE, M/M, Mentions of Death, Non-Graphic Torture, Romance, Second War with Voldemort, Spies & Secret Agents, Voldemort Won Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-05
Updated: 2014-10-05
Packaged: 2018-02-19 23:10:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2406356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bonfoi/pseuds/Bonfoi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Voldemort holds court within Hogwarts Castle, rounding up the remnants of the Light.  Too bad he didn't look more closely at those around him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Loch and Chains

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N:** I felt the urge to write something dark, dangerous, dastardly...then, through the wonderful of writing, it was transmuted and twisted, and came out much more of a soft, dove grey! *lol* Don't let the genre fool you, this has a really happy ending.

Hidden in plain sight, Voldemort's downfall comes when he least expects it. Too bad for him.

§¤§¤*§*¤§¤§ 

**  
_ Disclaimer:_   
** The world of Harry Potter, its characters and settings are the copyrighted works of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., her publishing companies and affiliates. No profit was made from the writing of this story nor was any malice intended in any way, shape or form to the author or the actors/actresses who so brilliantly have brought them to life.

This author is not responsible for underage readers. Please observe the ratings, warnings, and age of legal consent for your country.

§¤§¤*§*¤§¤§ 

Halloween, 1998

>   
> The mist of the loch shrouds the night  
> His voice comes from everywhere, and nowhere  
> A cobweb caress floats across my skin  
> I go to my lover, deep in the loch  
> 

Severus looked on as yet another witch of the Light was put under Cruciatus. After months of rooting out the Resistance, they were coming to the core of it, the brains and the spirit of battle still raging against Lord Voldemort's triumph. Severus let his eyes unfocus as the witch writhed in agony, his ears filled with _Eine Kleine Nacht Musik_ instead of her screams.

"My Lord, and members of the High Council, I now bring forth a prize that has eluded us since Hogwarts." Lucius Malfoy stood tall and proud, a façade of bravado and insouciance that was beginning to show signs of wear as the parade of victims grew ever longer. With a wave of his arm, a flourish more at home in a carnival than Hogwarts war-weary Great Hall, a curtain pulled away from the stone wall and wizard, scarred, worn, greying was pulled involuntarily forward.

"I give you Remus Lupin!" Lucius shouted and stepped away, behind the falling curtain.

Severus leaned forward. _Now that was interesting,_ he thought. Every witch and wizard, Muggleborn and Muggle that had been brought forth for death or torture had had Lucius standing off to the side, his eyes steady and hard as he surveyed the proceedings. But, Lupin…his presence brought a sense of foreboding to Severus, a tingling of his sense of self-preservation, and a small, almost infinitesimal burst of hope ruthlessly quashed before it could even spark a memory of his work at Dumbledore's side... Severus rolled his shoulders as if he was merely shifting position after sitting so long, but surreptitiously, he readied his wand and waited.

Voldemort leaned forward, his skin now fully scaled as he'd fused himself with the carcass of Nagini after Longbottom's death at Rabastan's wand. Severus let his smile at that memory bloom internally; after all, the boy had not only slain the familiar, but he'd rid the world of Rodolphus—in a most spectacular duel—helping distract Bellatrix long enough for the Weasley matriarch to dispatch the mad witch with extreme prejudice before he was brought down. Blinking slowly, Severus cleared those memories away when Voldemort cast a sidelong glance at him. He returned his attention to Lupin, and the fact that the man had yet to utter a word.

"Remus Lupin, werewolf, beast, less than a man or a wizard, do you understand that here you will die?" Voldemort asked in sibilant tone. Lupin, unlike every other witch and wizard present, did not shiver or shake at that malformed voice. He stood in his enchanted chains as if he were going to deliver a lecture on the Dark Arts, so relaxed and at ease did he hold himself.

Lupin raised his eyes from where they'd been studying the stone steps leading to Voldemort's ostentatious, and flamboyant, throne built of ancient gems and stones, and bared his teeth. Severus had to stop his instinctive recoil at the feral action, at the revelation of bloody fangs residing behind those soft lips. He forced himself not to cringe as Voldemort continued.

"You were the plaything of gods, Lupin, and such, you will be broken into your parts for my amusement, until there is nothing left but a faint, acrid memory." Voldemort stood and climbed down to the floor proper, stalking toward Lupin in a slithering motion that reminded one of Nagini far too vividly.

Severus felt his body tensing, his wand falling into his hand without a conscious thought. He stared just a bit too long at Lupin and felt the brush of his former lover's magic washing over his mental shields, some of it slipping behind them to stir a long-forgotten memory:

> >   
>  Albus sat in his chair, Fawkes nestled on his perch behind him. The withered wreck of his hand was laid out on the desk as Severus applied a potion augmented by Phoenix Tears. They both watched as the grey skin sizzled and squirmed over wasted muscles, and then returned to its putrid glory.
>> 
>> "That's the last thing, Albus. I can, I can do nothing but perhaps ease your pain."
>> 
>> "You'll do more than that, Severus. When the time comes, after you've cemented your place at Voldemort's side, you'll be granted another chance to fight for the Light."
>> 
>> Severus shook his head vehemently. "You think I'm going to live past the war's end?" he asked incredulously. "Barmy as a coney in a top hat, you are! If Potter doesn't kill me on sight, Rem-one of the others will."
>> 
>> "Severus, I want you to look into my eyes and believe." Albus leaned on his good arm, his eyes blazing. "Look at me, Severus Snape!" he demanded.
>> 
>> Severus looked, and in that instant, he was imbued with part of Dumbledore's hidden power. The old coot forced it into Severus like the insidious slide of a dagger between the ribs, nestling it right under Severus' heart. As he withdrew from Severus' mind, Albus left a trigger to unleash that power. 

The rush of the power was heady, but the trigger was only partially depressed. Lupin had to do something else, say something so that Albus' sacrifice could finally be made worthwhile.

"Tom, may I call you Tom?" Lupin unexpectedly queried. "Or Arse of the Universe, as Harry's called you? Or Moldy Shorts as the Weasley Twins referred to you?" His body seemed to hum with repressed energy, and Severus couldn't understand why no one but he noticed it.

"Silence!" Voldemort roared. He strode forward and slapped Lupin's grin from his face. The spectators held their breaths as Lupin shook himself like a shaggy beast and turned fully toward the Dark Lord and stepped close enough to touch him.

"Tommy boy, you shouldn't have done that," Lupin said softly, menacingly. Witches and wizards began edging away, and Severus realized Lucius must have known what was going to happen. Lupin rolled his shoulders and the magical chains burst apart, leaving a respectable length between his hands. "You see, there have always been plans within plans, Tommy, old son, and you were never going to be anything but a footnote when all's said and done." 

As the last words fell from those bloodstained lips, Severus felt the power under his breastbone contract and then tear itself loose, suffusing the air with a golden spear of lightning aimed straight for Voldemort's heart. He watched Lupin wrap the length of chain around the Dark...Moldy Shorts'...throat and crush his larynx, denying him the ability to speak any defensive spells in the time it took for the bolt to rip through the scaly abomination's body.

It was chaos! There were suddenly dozens of Aurors and Harry Potter and his army at the periphery of the crowd. Lucius Malfoy and his son were fighting against the same witches and wizards they'd been shoulder-to-shoulder with earlier, and both of them were taking savage delight in the consternation that caused. Bill and Charlie Weasley were throwing eggs that burst open to become nets of fire and ice, traps that shrank around whomever they caught until they fell to the floor. There were two centaurs firing arrows of what seemed like pure moonlight, burning through bodies in a blaze of glory. Hermione Granger and Molly Weasley were casting Jelly-leg Jinxes and Bat-Bogey Hexes with abandon, causing battle-hardened veterans to lose their balance and become easier targets for other, more vicious spells.

"Severus! Severus, move your scrawny arse to me!" Lupin shouted.

At that exhortation, Severus threw himself off the dais and toward Lupin, flinging curses to the left and the right until he was at the other man's side. Voldemort's body—he was somehow still breathing, even though his heart had been burned out of his body—was hanging from the chain wrapped around his throat, Lupin's forearms straining to keep him up. Severus was about to ask why when Potter wormed his way through the fighting to stand inches from the murderer of his parents.

"Tom Riddle, I never thought I'd say this, but I do this with love." Severus watched as Potter leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to Voldemort's chilling lips. The Dark Lord threw back his head and howled, and a sudden gale blew everyone off their feet, but for Potter, Lupin and Severus. A strange, sickly green mist poured out of Voldemort's body, twisting in the bizarre windstorm, but Potter pressed his lips to his enemy's forehead and held on as the mist began to break apart. There were beads of sweat on Lupin's brow, and Severus had a flash of another time when he'd seen such exertion, and his cock twitched at the inappropriate memory.

Then, the gale died away. Voldemort's body began to crumble into ash and dust. The very stones of Hogwarts shook and heaved as if throwing off something foul, and windows burst outward, letting in clean, Scottish air. Those left standing, and fighting, began to fall to their knees, begging for mercy. Severus closed his eyes and began to fall to his own knees, but Lupin's arms were around him, preventing it.

"No, Severus, you aren't one of them any longer." He felt more than heard the words as his head was pressed against Lupin's chest, the chain a hot brand at his back.

"Harry, I'm going now." Lupin's voice rumbled through Severus, powerful enough to entice his treacherous cock to vibrate right along with it. "Severus is coming with me."

"Remus, I-I'll miss you." Potter stepped over the pile that had been the bane of so many people's existences and hugged Lupin, and by default, Severus. "Don't hurt him, Snape. No matter what, I would find you if you did." He stepped back with a sad grin. "Now, go on, before Kingsley remembers you're both wanted for something."

Severus felt Lupin wrap a loop of chain around his wrist before he leaned back. "Severus, Albus bound us when he split his magic between the two of us. Will you finish the binding and come with me now? Or will I just take you?"

"I would be a fool to choose to remain instead of escaping with you, Lu-Remus," he muttered. "Just tell me, where are we going?"

"There's a whole world in the loch, the Black Lake, Severus. Albus showed it to me, and I want to take you there." Remus leaned forward and kissed Severus' cheek. "And we'll both atone for our stupidity and other actions in private," he whispered.

"Lead on, Remus. It's the best plan I've heard in years."

_"Severus Snape, by the authority of the—"_

They disappeared with a clanking of chains just as Kingsley Shacklebolt was reaching for Severus.

»¤«∞»¤«

"Harry, do you know where they went?" Kingsley asked, arms crossed and brows lowered.

"Dumbledore's Pensieve only showed me that they were going someplace calle Petit Morte," Harry said with a tired smile. He then looked around the Great Hall and laughed. "Hermione finally told me what that means last night. So, I'm thinking they're finally going to shag themselves to death."

Kingsley choked back a chuckle as he understood. "Well, perhaps that is a fitting punishment for Snape, but what of Remus?"

Harry caught sight of Hermione coming toward him and said over his shoulder, "Maybe we should all be punished that way."

»¤«∞»¤«

Sweaty and grinning, Remus whispered into Severus' flushed skin:

_The embrace of the deep carries a cold bite_  
But, my love will warm me with constant care  
I breathe in the death that took him, agin and agin  
I join my lover, beneath the waves of the loch 

"Lupin, if you used that damned poem to convince Albus to create a utopia for two under the water, I will kill you," Severus said languidly.

Laughing, Remus rolled off and to Severus' side. "Oh, no. It was Albus who brought it to my attention. He said that after all the killing and destruction, there was only one death that we should be looking forward to for decades to come."

Severus smiled slightly. "Good. Now let me rest. It's my turn to give you a little death, over and over..." He fell asleep as the last word passed his lips, secure in a world he'd never imagined would be his.

§¤§¤*§*¤§¤§ 

_~~~ Comments, like rain in the desert, are greatly appreciated.  
Thank you for reading. ~~~_  



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